The death toll from twin blasts Saturday in Damascus has climbed to 74, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said Sunday.

Syrian state-run media reported that more than 40 civilians were killed and over 120 were injured. The SOHR said 20 victims were members of the Syrian regime forces and militiamen loyal to the Syrian regime.

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The two blasts were caused by IEDs targeting buses carrying Iraqi pilgrims who were visiting the Bab al-Saghir cemetery in Damascus, according to Iraq's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Jamal.

SOHR said the first explosion happened near the cemetery. When the visitors from the buses gathered around the site of the first explosion to see what happened, the second blast went off.

The attackers used improvised explosive devices, Iraqi Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Jamal said in a statement.

The ministry said the pilgrims were visiting "holy shrines" at Bab al-Saghir, one of Syria's largest and oldest cemeteries.

The Syrian government called the attacks "cowardly" acts of terror and asked the UN secretary-general and chairman of the UN Security Council to condemn them, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency said.

Damascus told the United Nations that all entities participating in the Russian- backed peace talks "distance themselves from the terror organizations," SANA reported.

The government demanded that countries backing terror groups, "mainly those of Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar and some Western states, be compelled to stop all forms of support to these organizations." The Syrian regime has claimed it has been fighting "terrorists" -- its term for rebel fighters.